Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully give me some advice. I apologize in advance that it will not be the most eloquent or organized post on the board. The more important a topic is to my heart the harder it seems to be to organize my thoughts .

I graduated from college in May of 2007 with a degree in Philosophy and an intention to work in IT. In fact, since I was about 10 years old I have planned on working in IT. I have a couple of IT certifications and a pretty good amount of experience (for a recent grad anyway).

Since graduating (and for a long time before) I have been contemplating on how fulfilling a career in IT was going to leave me. If my current job is any indication, not very . I have spent countless hours trying to figure out what I could do that I would enjoy the most. One thing that has always been tugging at my mind was personal training (with Crossfit).

More than anything I enjoy helping other people improve their own lives. In every interest I had growing up it always turned towards building up others. A lot of my IT experience has been in teaching others computer skills they didn't think they were capable of. Ever since I started Crossfit I have been "training" and infecting others.

I believe that I would love becoming a Crossfit Trainer. However, unlike many I am not interested in opening my own affiliate. I'm 23 and unsure of where I want to settle down, lack the capital for such a venture, am too inexperienced, etc. I would like to work for someone else, an affiliate. However, since many affiliates are small I am wondering if such employment opportunities are really out there. I'm assuming those affiliates that do hire several trainers may hire persons who are non CF trainers (but at least have PT experience) and then teach them?

Anyway, I believe that I can save up the money to attend a Level 1 Certification in April. I may have to sell off some possessions and things, but I believe I can do it. If others think it could possibly lead to new employment then I will make the initial deposit immediately (even if it doesn't work out I'll have the personal knowledge gained at least). However, if others think that there really aren't many CF trainer positions open at this point in the movement's development then I may hold off. I have a lot of student loans and that much is a large amount of money to me.

I'm not looking to get rich off becoming a trainer or anything. I don't really care how much money I make as long as it is enough to pay my bills (whereas $ signs were always in my eyes when thinking about my IT future). I'm willing to relocate pretty much anywhere. I don't know, maybe I am being a bit foolish in some way, but I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than helping people get into shape; particularly persons who are not too familiar with exercise in the first place.

I don't know what to do. I'm not happy in my current career, but I am unsure if what I would like to do is accessible. Thank you in advance for any advice.

Don't worry, you're not being foolish. That's why you posted this thread, right? A little preliminary recon before you make any hard and fast decisions is the opposite of foolish. You could start by calling or shooting an email to an affiliate or two, and seeing what their hiring practices are. I know there's an affiliate in Louisville. That's where I'd start. Hope this helps.
Best of luck, John